“Yes.”
“Then take it up with Edward. I follow his orders, as do we all.”
“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”
“I said, and I repeat, take it up with the boss. That’s what he instructed me to do, so that’s what I did.”
“Then collect your personal effects and clear out. You’re fired. And any of the rest of you who are confused in any way about who runs this shop. You should gather your shit right now and follow Murden out the door. Are there any questions?”
Murden looked confused, as did Kimmi Park. Somehow, they had gotten the wrong impression about who Hannah was and what she was in London to do. There was also confusion about the exact chain of command.
Raoul was watching Murden, assessing him and spoke up, “Move along mate. You heard the lady. Push off.”
“Fuck you, errand boy. I’ll go when I damn well feel like it.”
James and Raoul immediately drew their weapons and pointed them directly at Murden. “You’ll do as the lady bloody well instructs you. Now get moving, mate. I won’t say it again.”
James stood up, keeping a careful watch on Murden as he motioned the man to the door with his Glock. Murden said, “Your mighty brave with a gun. Why don’t we see just how tough you are without it, errand boy?”
“You’ve got five seconds before I begin to perforate your hide, mate. So, keep your threats to yourself; they won’t work here. Now get a move on before you really piss me off.”
Hannah stood her ground silently, watching the events unfold. James escorted Murden to the door but Kimmi didn’t follow. She was puzzled by Murden’s reaction to Hannah and shocked by his blunt dismissal of the woman who was clearly his boss. This had been made clear to them both by telephone after the meetings in Edinburgh. Where this nonsense about Edward came from, she didn’t know. She hadn’t heard anything contradicting Edward’s clear instructions and was thoroughly confused.
James turned to George and said, “You too mate. Let’s get a move on while we’re still young. Apparently, you don’t have an invite to the party either.”
The two men headed for the door and down the hallway to the elevator. “Collect your personals and clear out. I’m calling security downstairs and they’ll take your key card and credentials on the way out. You can email me here with instructions where you want the contents of your apartment sent.”
James sent them on their way, then locked the elevator so they couldn’t come back up. He called down to security in the lobby, who met the men at the elevator and escorted them out the front entrance.
When James arrived back in the meeting, Raoul had holstered his gun while the rest of the crew sat quietly.
Hannah said, “The rest of you should think this over tonight. If you have any doubt about who’s in charge here, don’t. If you don’t wish to work for me then you should leave in the morning and go elsewhere. If you decide to stay, you’re welcome. But hear this loud and clear. I will not tolerate insubordination from anyone. Murden is gone and so is Noki. They seem to have gotten the wrong impression about the chain of command in this shop. If that isn’t to your liking, too fucking bad.”
Hannah collected her briefcase full of the information packets she had prepared for the orientation and left. James and Raoul followed her out and retreated with Hannah to her apartment. The other team members remained in the Tech Centre and talked over what they had just witnessed. The women decided they had no intention of leaving but Ogden was ready to bolt. Candy told Ogden if he left, she wasn’t leaving with him. The choice was his.
Ogden thought about it overnight and decided he would stay. But he was unsure for how long. This was not turning out as he had hoped and already couldn’t bear to be in the same room as the puff pastry. And she was what, all of twenty-five or six? Christ, he thought, this is a recipe for disaster. He wanted no part of it except for Candy. But he decided: if she stayed, he’d stay.
By morning everyone had confirmed their decision to Hannah. They would stay and were now quite clear who was in charge. The gunplay had been unnecessary, they said, but Murden had been way out of line. Hannah had no other choice and Murden had gotten what he deserved. Edward had been clear with each of them about chain of command in London and warned them not to fuck with Hannah, who although young, had his full support and authority. He had told them he had no doubt that she would exercise every inch of her authority, so do not press her. Why Murden would go haywire was beyond them, especially for Kimmi.
Kimmi, for her part, had been unable to reach Murden, which concerned her to no end. It wasn’t like him not to answer a call from her.
Chapter 31
The orientation meeting reconvened in the Tech Centre promptly at two pm the following day. The same cast of characters were in attendance minus the three dropouts: Noki, George and Murden. James and Raoul were back in attendance, one seated up front and one in back. Crowd control, everyone thought.
Hannah once again had her information packets on the conference room table, arranged by name and job duties in front of her.
The faces in attendance didn’t evidence any emotion one way or another from the previous days’ events. That is, except Ogden whose unhappiness was evident from the scowl on his face and his sour disposition. He clearly sided with the kids in detention and didn’t want to be in the same room as tinker bell but held his tongue. Candy had been unusually terse with him over the phone when they spoke, and he suspected more than a little something was amiss.
“Come or don’t come, Ogden. It’s up to you. But I’m in and have no issues with Hannah, Edward or any of the rest of the team. Or this Vera woman. If Murden had done to Edward what he tried to do to Hannah yesterday, he would have been toast and you know it. This is about something else, so you had better get your shit together fast or quit. Like I said, it’s up to you.”
Ogden had never heard this tone from Candy and didn’t like it. He felt cornered and panicky but was unwilling to go against his friend’s wishes. The women were all staying, except Noki, and had no visible problem with the young American. The men, save him, didn’t either, including those two psycho SAS cousins. They didn’t count and his dislike for them was both intense and immediate. He didn’t like the way the meeting had ended the day before; Murden, after all, was mostly bluster, though he could back up his tough talk with his formidable and battle tested fighting skills. He just wasn’t as inclined to kick anyone’s ass as he had been as a young man.
Kimmi wouldn’t have approved and her opinion was all that mattered to him.
Hannah spoke promptly as the clock chimed two o’clock in the afternoon. “If everyone could take a seat, we can get started. Does anyone have any comments or questions before we begin?”
She looked around the room, making eye contact with each and glaring intently. “No? OK, good then. I’d like to bring on the rest of our team. Gentlemen. Please,” Hannah shouted.
George Armstrong Oaks, Murden Wills and Noki Lee came back into the room, Murden and Noki first with George trailing in a few seconds later, cell phone in hand and a clipboard on his lap. He was in a motorized wheelchair today and dressed in British academic fashion with horn rim glasses. He looked like Clark Kent in a wheel chair, a look he tried hard to cultivate.
“Sorry boys and girls,” he said. “My Mom. She’s a dear lady but a such pest. Her condo in Haifa has some plumbing issues. Anyway, I see we’re all here. Hannah, you may wish to explain. I think Ogden may be a little confused.”
“Thanks George. And on behalf of Edward, George and Murden, we do apologize for the theatrics yesterday. Edward wanted to assess our readiness for the unexpected and thought this would be a good test run. I am happy to say that we all passed. And Edward mentioned that each team member acted exactly as he expected, which confirmed his earlier assessment. If there are no further questions, why don’t we begin?”
Kimmi, who was not given to emotional outbursts asked, “Would you mind
explaining? I’m in and while I don’t mind the theatrics, I would like to know why any of that was necessary. I mean, something did happen yesterday,” she paused. “And Noki wasn’t part of it. But here she is today. What gives?”
“I’ll explain just this once, then we move on. We don’t have any more time to waste. George, please give us a quick and dirty.”
George nodded, and began to speak. “My name is George Armstrong Oak and I will be involved in this project as a permanent member of the team located exclusively here in London. My job is to coordinate and interface our advanced technology here in London with Portland and home office. I will assist Murden with planning, logistics and field operations but only from this location. I won’t be traveling or getting involved with Ops, so you will be free to do your jobs without my interference. I am support if you need a capability and my reporting is to Hannah and a few folks back in America.”
Candy said, “You didn’t answer Kimmi’s question. Why did we do that yesterday?”
“Edward thought, actually says he knew, that there might be some issues around how we all come together, the rules of engagement and lines of authority. He wanted a dramatic demonstration of the potential for conflict and a demonstration of what the response would be. First, Hannah is the boss so all past relationships are meaningless in this context. Second, she must have our undivided loyalties, a clear understanding that her word is law and an unambiguous demarcation of job duties and expectations. Third, Edward wanted to see the team’s real-life reactions, something unattainable in interviews and resumes. He wanted to gauge the level or pushback, or resistance, to the operating plan as we conceived it. Rather than let any lingering doubts intrude on the project later, Edward felt it best to do a little live action experiment on day one. Anyone not on board, or showing themselves not to be honestly committed, would be identified and discharged. Edward felt this had to be done before orientation and that it would confirm his choices and rankings. Or not.”
Raoul, sitting in back said, “Very naughty bit that. Not sure I like it one bit.”
Hannah smiled and in her most assuring tone said, “Now, now Raoul, you and James get highest marks and a special treat later. Vera has a surprise for you both. She was quite upset about us testing you two. Thinks I should’ve known better and trusted you. She’s very fond of you both, you know.”
Both James and Raoul smiled at the mention of Vera in the conversation. While they each liked Hannah immensely, James knew that Raoul had a secret crush on Vera. She was the exotic American who was exquisitely beautiful, posh in every sense of the word and unattainable, as she ought to be. Squiring her around London, assuring her safety and watching over her 24/7 was no imposition. It was a privilege.
Vera, for her part, had come to understand what “propriety” meant to her Brits and was completely at ease around her men. When Hannah was busy and the boys on standby, Vera would often invite them to watch a soccer game on the big screen, wearing her Tottenham jersey and cursing like a sailor.
“It’s called football you know. Not that thing you yanks play. If you’re going to live here in London, we’ll have to get you talking like a proper fan.”
Vera smiled, and asked them if they could sneak her out some day and see a game at the Lane. No, was the instant reply. From both. They would do anything she asked except place her in any danger. Too many blokes, too much beer and not enough common sense.
George continued, “So everyone passed, and I hope we are all clear on the main points. The discussion will be democratic but the decisions autocratic. I hope that clears everything up and, again, we do apologize for the little test; Edward wanted to be sure he and Hannah had made the right choices. It appears she has.”
Hannah said, “If that’s all your questions for today, then please open your packets so we can get going on first assignments for our little project. George and Murden will go over security, technology, physical premises and communications as well as various internal protocols. That’s addressed in your first binder. The second binder is your initial assignment and preparations. We’ll be traveling in three weeks, so time is short. George will track training and prep progress, so be sure to keep him up to date on all your activities.
“Where we going?”
“Rome.”
“What’s there?”
“The Vatican. We have a meeting with Cardinal Bellinelli. Seems they both have the same interest in anthropology as we do. Edward would like to know why.”
Chapter 32
“Your concerns are ephemeral; your conclusions specious. I eschew your reasoning and utterly reject the premises of your arguments as well as the foundations of your logic. In other words, you’re a dumb ass! So, remove yourself from my office. Now!”
The voice was female but sounded exactly like Adam in one of his moods. Everyone laughed and demanded more.
Edward was huddled in his office at the Institute chatting with Rod, Cindy and Misti, trying to decide how to get Adam more urgently on board with more creative and somewhat riskier uses of the DL Main for their little project. The “Big Giant Brain” had long been a slightly derisive term many of Adam’s colleagues had given him. For those who loved him, it fit. For those who didn’t, it also fit. Adam’s own immense lack of humility about his prodigious intellectual prowess had not gone unnoticed by friend or foe alike; what separated one from the other was the degree to which his prickly personality and arrogant behavior offended the sensibility.
For Rod, Adam was his only brother. This was Adam being Adam; no offense was taken. Or, mostly, even noticed. He was used to Adamspeak and since he believed his brother was a genius, he didn’t think Adam acknowledging it was ego. It was fact. Detractors were petty and jealous. Rod was protective of his older brother and had thrown down more than once when he thought some idiot was talking shit about Adam.
For Cindy, Adam was the brother she never had but always wanted. Cindy derided his critics; the Adam she knew was almost perfect, only beaten out by a hair by the only man she had ever loved or would ever love: Rodrigo Suarez. That Adam truly considered Cindy his sister, his only and real sister, was evidence of his beautiful mind and soul. Meaningless distinctions unconnected to Adam’s love of his family, as he defined it, was all the proof Cindy would ever need. Genetics to Adam only counted for so much. They certainly were far from determinative of what family really meant to him.
For Edward, Adam was his son. If that alone didn’t explain everything he felt, it should have. He loved his son unconditionally, as only a loving mother and father can.
For Misti, Adam was her lover and best friend; her confidant and co-conspirator in life; her confessor and high priest; her ideal and husband without peer. They fit together, she mused, like puzzle pieces: perfect in mood, clarity of thought and sense of purpose. They somehow knew instinctively, on almost a genetic level, that they were not only destined to be together but to make each other as happy as could no other. Misti felt fulfilled and tempered by the belief that this was her one true chance at happiness. Not because Adam was a man in a traditional role but because this fellow being was so unique and so different in all those strange, sick and quirky ways.
Adam was intellectually brilliant but could, on occasion, be filled with an almost incalculable level of rage and aggression. He was confidant to excess in his abilities both physical and mental and driven by an unrelenting lust and desire to possess Misti and Misti alone. She understood that they were, as societal definitions go, both sociopaths who would, in any other circumstances, be restrained, incarcerated or otherwise institutionalized by now.
But she was not. Neither was he.
Misti no longer felt the pain or unrelenting presence of fears and doubts that had plagued her since childhood, wondering about her place in the world. Staying on or very close to the path dictated by Edward had allayed her loneliness and sense of isolation but had long been, in her view, an exercise in treading water until the ‘good stuff’
finally became real. Edward had promised her a single reward – his son – if Misti kept her commitments to him and found her way clear to become the woman Edward had always envisioned. She and Edward both knew these weren’t perfect plans and that unintended consequences of one social experiment or another could easily surface. But the path he set her on, and to which she had largely clung, was spacious and wide – plenty of room for deviation, experimentation and error. We’re human beings, she thought, not some made up characters in a cheesy novel.
Misti felt a small chill, surrounded by the core of her extended family, who understood her secrets and loved her. Loved her. They know who I am, she thought as she looked at each with a cat-like and discriminating eye, and they love me because of it, not despite it. And the only soul missing was the one that mattered to her more than life itself – her husband, and equally troubled second half.
Misti had not yet had children, so she didn’t know what the pain of that separation could feel like. But in the short duration of her wild affair with Adam, she could easily guess. They were seldom apart, mostly because Adam seemed to need her physical touch and proximity to be right with the world. She thought about giving him space and not appearing to be clingy or needy. But it never happened. Adam would not have it; he needed no space from her.
She always felt his presence around her, whether near or not. The reassurance of his touch or kiss, his thoughtfulness in the small things he shared with her made her feel appreciated and deeply desired. To his family and the world, Adam could be a closed off, introspective and a petty human being given only to his own selfish and immediate needs and wants. But Misti never saw that side of him; she didn’t believe it to be possible, at least not with her.
Adam told her everything passing through his consciousness, she believed, unvarnished and raw. The deep black well of his imagination might be unsettling to others, just not to her. His nearness, his voice and his deepest thoughts, expressed so vividly and precisely, were a constant source of almost erotic pleasure, if pleasure it could be called. He alone in the world of males would be permitted to bring her to full and complete satisfaction but she would never share with him her secret; that at times his touch alone might be all that was necessary for its full realization.
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